MVC Men's Lacrosse Season Ends at National Tournament Monday

Posted May 12, 2014

Marshall, Mo. (May 12, 2014)- The No. 20 Missouri Valley College men’s lacrosse team ended its inaugural season as they came up short against No. 2 St. John’s (Minn.) 13-10 in the first round of the MCLA Division II National Tournament at UC-Irvine Field 2 in Irvine, Calif., Monday afternoon. The Vikings were the No. 15 seed and St. Johns entered as the No.2 seed in the National tournament. The Vikings entered the tournament with an automatic bid after winning the GRLC Division II Tournament earlier this month.

The MVC offense opened up the scoring just three minutes into the game as Sophomore Midfielder Tim Setree (Annapolis, Md.) netted his first of four goals to give the Vikings an early 1-0 lead. This would be the Vikings only lead of the game, however, as St. John’s scored their first goal just two minutes later and another goal with four minutes remaining in the first quarter to take a 2-1 lead. With three minutes remaining in the quarter, Sophomore Attacker John Milani (Glenwood, Md.) tied it up with the Johnnies at 2-2.

The Johnnies wasted no time increasing their lead after coming out of the break as they scored two goals within a minute and a half to go back up 8-5 over MVC. Shortly after, however, Setree caught a pass from Junior Attacker Doug Brown (Baltimore, Md.) and was able to net his third goal of the game to again cut St. John’s lead to 8-6. After another St. John’s goal, the Vikings got two more goals from Setree and Licata to narrow the Johnnies lead to 9-8 with five and a half minutes remaining in the third quarter. However, St. John’s scored again with one minute remaining to take a 10-8 lead over the Vikings into the final quarter.

With neither team being able to find the net, it seemed like the final score may end up 10-8. However, the action picked back up with three minutes remaining in the game as St. John’s scored again, but was quickly followed by a goal from Freshman Midfielder Brendan Gallagher (Geneva, Ill.) to keep the Vikings hopes alive at 11-9. With two minutes remaining, the Johnnies were able to score two more goals and hold off the Vikings comeback bid. MVC did not give up though as Junior Attacker Greg Abendshoen (Catonsville, Md.) scored the final goal of the game with ten seconds remaining to wrap up the Vikings inaugural season with a 13-10 loss.

The Vikings were led by Setree who had four goals. Both Licata and Milani had two goals apiece while Abendshoen and Gallagher each had one goal. Freshmen Goalkeeper Brandon Minshall (Centennial, Colo.) earned the Player of the Game honors as he finished with 25 saves, 11 of which came in the third quarter.

The loss finishes off the Vikings inaugural season with a 15-2 overall record in the MCLA Division II. St. Johns improves to 11-2 on the season and advances to the quarterfinal round of the MCLA Division II National Tournament.

About Missouri Valley College

Known for its dynamic, richly diverse, and friendly educational environment, Missouri Valley College offers many opportunities to grow in mind, body, and spirit. Grounded in the liberal arts, undergraduate studies empower students to master interdisciplinary skills needed to succeed in a knowledge-based global society. MVC offers over 40 academic programs, study abroad program, honors program, extracurricular activities, and 13 sports. The most popular majors include education and business, and some new majors are ag-business, nursing, graphic design, and health information systems (associate degree). Above all, Valley is committed to student success. For more information, call (660) 831-4000 or visit www.moval.edu.